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For thirty years Sharon Draper was an English teacher in the Cincinnati, Ohio,

her love of reading and writing in generations of children, and inspiring them to reach for their greatest dreams.

n 1997 she received the highest honor an educator can be given when President Bill Clinton (1946–) named her the U.S. Teacher of the Year.

A writer of popular and finely wrought young adult novels and nonfiction with sales totaling more than three million worldwide, Gary Paulsen joined a select group of YA writers when he received the 1997 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring an author's lifetime achievement in writing books for teens. His work is widely praised by critics, and he has been awarded Newbery Medal Honor Book citations for three of his books, Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room.

In prose lean and echoing of Hemingway, Paulsen creates powerful young adult fiction, often set in wilderness or rural areas and featuring teenagers who arrive at self-awareness by way of experiences in nature—through challenging tests of their own survival instincts—or through the ministrations of understanding adults. He displays an "extraordinary ability to picture for the reader how man's comprehension of life can be transformed with the lessons of nature," wrote Evie Wilson in Voice of Youth Advocates. "With humor and psychological genius, Paulsen develops strong adolescent characters who lend new power to youth's plea to be allowed to apply individual skills in their risk-taking." In addition to writing young adult fiction, Paulsen has also authored numerous picture books with his illustrator wife R. W. Paulsen, penned children's nonfiction, and authored two plays and many works of adult fiction and nonfiction.

Paulsen was born in Minnesota in 1939, the son of first-generation Danish and Swedish parents. During his childhood, he saw little of his father, who served in the military in Europe during World War II, and little of his mother, who worked in a Chicago ammunitions factory. "I was reared by my grandmother and several aunts," he once told Something about the Author. "I first saw my father when I was seven in the Philippines where my parents and I lived from 1946 to 1949." Writing of that experience a half century later in Riverbank Review, Paulsen noted that he "lived essentially as a street child in Manila, because my parents were alcoholics and I was not supervised. The effect was profound and lasting."

Henrietta My One-Eyed Cat

So the other night, I watched the movie Seabiscuit, which, in case you don't know, is the true story of this champion race horse. And I couldn't help thinking, as I watched, how much Seabiscuit, a problem horse whose owners at times despaired of him, reminded me of my cat, Henrietta, a problem cat whose owners sometimes despair of her. Don't get me wrong. I love Henrietta with all the fiber of my being. If there were a fire in my building, Henrietta would be the first thing I'd grab. My husband and I disagree about many things—the therapeutic benefits of the show Charmed, for instance. But fortunately we both agree on Henrietta: She is the best thing in our lives—a little angel who fell down from heaven to be with us. The only problem is that we're the only people on the planet who've met Henrietta who feel that way about her. Henrietta didn't have a very good start in life. I got her from a woman, Gigi, who'd found her, along with

Author Information Lisi Harrison was born in the fashion capital of our neighbor to the north, Toronto, Canada. She was the Queen Bee of many cliques and kept copious records of them in the journals she always had with her --- a hobby she has to this day. After university, Lisi moved to New York City where she began a career creating and developing shows for MTV, including "Room Raiders." Lisi also was the head writer for MTV Productions and a columnist for Jane magazine. Now that she has given up the glamour to write for teens full time, Lisi is currently at work on the next book in The Clique series with creative consulting done by Bee Bee, her fashionista Chihuahua.

R.L. Stine wrote humor and joke books until an editor asked him to write a young adult horror novel. After Blind Date became an instant best seller, Stine started a young adult horror series called Fear Street. In 1992, R.L. Stine wrote his first book for Goosebumps, which would quickly become the best-selling children's book series in history.

Robert Lawrence Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1943. Stine was a rather shy and fearful child, but he did have a clever imagination. At the age of nine, Stine began typing up his own short stories and humor magazines such as Tales to Drive You Batty. He would then circulate these publications to friends during class. In high school, Stine wrote a humor column for the school newspaper called "Stine's Lines." At Ohio State University, R.L. Stine edited a humor magazine and contributed articles under the name "Jovial Bob." After college, he moved to New York City with aspirations of becoming a writer. for 16 years, R.L. Stine worked at Scholastic, where he edited and wrote for a humor magazine called Bananas. Stine also wrote for Nickelodeon's television show, Eureeka's Castle. R.L. Stine's first children's book, How to be Funny, was published in 1978. Stine wrote humor and joke books until one day an editor asked him to write a young adult horror novel. After Blind Date became an instant best seller, Stine started a young adult horror series called Fear Street. In 1992 R.L. Stine wrote his first book for Goosebumps, which would quickly became the best-selling children's book series in history. Stine also hosted the top-rated Goosebumps television show on Fox. Today R.L. Stine writes books for two new series, Mostly Ghostly and Rotten School. He and his wife live in New York City.

Robert Lawrence Stine